


if i'm a pagan of the good times

by SmilingCheshire



Series: for i am fearless [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Illusions to Supernatural elements, theres a lot of stuff thats different here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 06:05:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17218388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmilingCheshire/pseuds/SmilingCheshire
Summary: Obito is dead except he's not, Itachi learned this along time ago and maybe it's time for everyone else to know as well.





	if i'm a pagan of the good times

**Author's Note:**

> For Tomicaleto <3
> 
> I hope you like it!!! I tried my best, I'm sorry its not in the genre you wanted!!

Itachi finds Obito alone, standing in their kitchen with a far away look in his eye. He’s wearing day old pajamas and his hair is sticking out at odd angles (which, admittedly, is not odd for an Uchiha). Itachi doesn’t think Obito’s going through a manic episode, unless it started while he was at school.

“Did you just wake up?” Itachi asks as he sets his backpack down in a dining chair. Obito doesn’t flinch at his question which is good but he doesn’t  _ look _ at Itachi. He doesn’t know  _ this _ Obito that well, he knew the happy-go-lucky kid that would babysit him sometimes. He only learned Obito waswas still alive when he came to live with Uncle Madara which was the surprise of a lifetime.

“No, I didn’t sleep,” Obito says dismissively, which is never good.

“Did you get in a fight with Nagato and Konan?” Itachi asks, he doesn’t really want to know about them, Itachi thinks they might be just his friends but there’s an equal chance they’re in a gang. Itachi isn’t sure which he prefers. 

“What? No,” Obito says with a hint of confusion. “I was just thinking about what we should do now that Madara’s out of town.”

“Why?” Itachi deadpans, Uncle Madara and Zetsu are always leaving them to go on suspicious ‘business trips’ that are definitely shady. “We never do anything when they’re gone.” 

Obito rolls his eyes, “Yeah but it’s January. You know they’re always gone at least a week in January. I figured we could do something fun.” Which is true, this month is special for some reason that Uncle Madara won’t tell them about. Obito probably knows though, he went on trips with Uncle Madara a few times since Uncle Madara wants Obito to take over the company when he’s old enough.

“No,” Itachi deadpans, it’s too risky - they’d never get away with it. 

Obito smiles, wrapping his arms around his cousin’s shoulders. “Don’t worry about the logistics for once. Just think about it, we’ll go to Konoha and we’ll see Shisui and Sasuke. It’ll be  _ fun _ .”

Itachi frowns, just slightly. It would be good to see them again… he hasn’t seen either of them since the summer and - Obito, he’s been gone so long he hasn’t even met Sasuke. Itachi sighs, “I guess… we could?” The sentence ends as a question but Obito smiles encouragingly nonetheless. Itachi furrows his eyebrows and asks, “How will we get there?”

Obito looks at him like he’s stupid, “ _ I’ll _ drive.” It’s a simple sentence but it holds so much weight because Obito  _ can’t _ drive. Even if he weren’t missing an eye, he’s still legally dead which would be  _ slightly _ confusing to any cops who came across them.

“You don’t know how to drive,” Itachi points out, which isn’t all that much of a point because he’s sure Uncle Madara taught him at some point which made Obito driving all the more dangerous.

Obito winks, “Do  _ you _ want to drive?”

It’s a simple fact that Itachi can’t drive. He’s fourteen, for one, and whenever Uncle Madara and Zetsu are away, he takes the bus with a weird kid named Hidan (he’s in Obito’s ‘friend group’ as well which is reason enough to be suspicious of him). “No,” he says blandly which makes Obito shrug.

“Do you think we should steal a car?” Obito asks as he opens the fridge, “or take one of Madara’s?”

“Madara’s,” Itachi says, partly because it would leave them lower on the radar, but mostly because at least he knows Obito isn’t in a manic episode.

Obito sighs, “I really wanted to steal a car but if you say so, dear cousin.” He says it in a slightly condescending tone but Itachi is used to it by now.

“Pack your stuff, we leave tonight.” Obito takes a bottle of lemonade out of fridge and disappears into his room. Itachi almost wants to call after him to ask about school but he thinks the better of it and instead slinks off to his room to pack a bag.

  
  
  
  


Obito was ready before Itachi which was a surprise in and of itself. He had changed out of his pajamas and showered, putting on old jeans and a black hoodie. He’s already put his stuff in the car which means he already had packed before Itachi got back to the apartment or he just threw a bunch of random things in his bag. Itachi wouldn’t put either past Obito.

Obito takes Itachi’s bag before he can offer it to him and throws it in the car. Obito’s in the car before he can process what happened. Instead of questioning it, he opens the car door and sits down. It’d probably be best to not expect anything with Obito in charge.

Itachi doesn’t know how long they’re in the car when he starts to fall asleep. Maybe it’s the old American rock playing softly on the radio or the passing landscape blurring as they drive by, maybe it’s the smell of a rarely used car or the fact that he’s going to see his family. Maybe it’s all of them.

Itachi rubs his eyes as he starts to wake up, at some point Obito has put a blanket on him. Itachi straightens and glances at Obito, he’s drumming his fingers against the steering wheel and mouthing along to Queen lyrics. 

Itachi takes out his phone, it’s an old thing  but he doesn’t mind, Itachi barely uses it anyway. The screen is cracked, Sasuke had dropped it while he was playing with it awhile ago. Madara has never offered to buy him which Itachi is fine with - despite the phone’s imperfections, it reminds him of someone dear. 

Itachi unlocks his phone, pausing to grin at picture of Sasuke holding one of the family cats with a giant smile on his face, and opens his messages to Shisui. It’s been awhile since they talked, Itachi has been busy with school and Shisui has been busy as well, at least that’s what Itachi likes to think. Itachi thinks about sending Shisui a message but instead, he just turns off his phone - better not let anyone know.

“How far until we get to Konoha?” Itachi asks, there’s still some grogginess in his voice, annoyingly enough.

Obito shrugs, “I think we’re getting close, it’s been awhile so I don’t remember all the landmarks.” It’s a lie - part of Obito trying to distance himself from his old life. There really isn’t much to be said in the way of Konoha landmarks, there is only the Great Faces and the Valley of the End - the Great Faces are the four faces of the village’s Hokage and the Valley of the End is a monument to Hashirama and Madara’s most famous breakup. It’s silly to think about but it’s Konoha’s history, it’s  _ theirs _ . 

Itachi holds his tongue, it’s easier for Obito this way after all. Itachi is allowed to keep in contact with the old parts of his life. Obito isn’t. Itachi supposes it makes sense, eventually Itachi will go home but Obito can’t, he’s dead to everyone who mattered to him.

Itachi doesn’t want to know what it feels like, doesn’t even want to imagine but Obito is dealing, which Itachi thinks is all he can do.

Itachi looks out the window, watching the trees fly by. They are both silent.

  
  
  


Konoha hasn’t changed much since he was last in town, the dango stand and Ichiraku Ramen are still the same and Hokage Tower is still oddly colorful (Hashirama painting it bright red while Tobirama was away is still a famous story among Konoha’s residents). 

It’s nice to be home, even if it’s not forever. Itachi wonders if seeing people will be enough - he’ll be masked without anyone knowing who he is.

They could tell their family at least, right? The Uchiha know how to keep secrets after all. Itachi’s mother, Mikoto, has sealed lips of her own and Shisui will just be glad to see Obito again. Even if Sasuke talked, people would just attribute it to an imaginary friend created from stories he had heard.

Itachi does not like lying but he knows it for the best here, Obito is just a ghost to the people of Konoha and bringing him back will only bring up unpleasant truths and conspiracies.

  
  
  
  


Obito is leaning against the wall when Itachi knocks on the door of his home, his head is tilted up and he’s watching the windchimes sway in the wind. For some reason, it doesn’t feel right to just walk in - maybe because it’s been so long since he’s been home. 

The door creaks as it opens, it’s familiar and comforting. Shisui’s eyes widen where he sees Itachi standing in front of him. “Itachi…? The question is soft, just above a whisper and it is filled with questions. Before he knows it, Itachi is engulfed in a hug - it’s different than the ones he’s used to, it’s not desperate like Obito in his manic phases when he’s barely holding on - no, this is soft and pleasant. Shisui steps back to look at him, “How did you get here?” He asks, eyebrows furrowing. 

“I drove him,” Obito says, not bothering to look away from the windchimes. He’s acting like he doesn’t care if Shisui recognized him but Itachi knows how desperately he does. 

It’s like a match is light. Shisui’s eyes go wide once again, a look of shock and horror taking over his face as he looks at Obito. Shisui’s holds his hand out like if he touches Obito, he’ll disappear. Obito knocks his hand out of the air gently, the smile on his face is wry sa he hides the plain relief that had flickered over him not a moment before. “It’s really me, kid.” It’s like deja vu, Itachi and Obito had gone through this only a few months prior. Obito will only go through it a few more times.

“How are you here? You went missing years ago,” Shisui asks, there’s pain in his voice and Itachi understands - Shisui was always closer with Obito than Itachi was, Obito would sleep over at Shisui’s house while his grandma was in the hospital and that built something of a bond.

“Ha, ‘missing’. Truth is that we were found before the rescue workers came - Zetsu took me back to Madara and voila, that’s where I’ve been in all that time.” There’s an edge of humor in Obito’s voice, there always is when he tells this story.

Nobody talks about what happened to the three kids that year. The truth is that nobody knows what happened, Kakashi and Rin only talked to the police about what happened and Obito was thought to be dead. All they knew was that Kakashi had lost an eye and Obito ( _ poor, sweet Obito, people said after as if they didn’t go out of their way to avoid him _ ) had given him his eye - Rin had performed the surgery, it was crude, all Rin had to go on was half forgotten lines from a medical textbook she had read, but the eye survived. Kakashi and Rin survived physically, but mentally they were gutted.

There must be a million questions Shisui wants to ask, ones that Obito can’t answer. 

Shisui opens his mouth, about to say something when Sasuke appears in the doorway. “Shisui! You’re supposed to take me to the beach!” His cheeks are puffed up and he has his arms crossed. Itachi brightens immediately at the sight of him, it’s been awhile since he’s seen his little brother.

“‘Tachi!” Sasuke screams, running at his older brother. Itachi catches the boy easily, bringing him into a hug. Itachi missed Sasuke, even if he was often annoyed with him before he left. The clinginess Sasuke showed makes sense, considering their father’s disappearance, Itachi wishes he was more considerate before. Itachi sets Sasuke down gently.

“Do you wanna come to the beach with us?” Sasuke asks, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He’s pulling on his sleeve insistently, Itachi laughs and nods.

His eye catches Obito for a split second. “Sasuke, this is your cousin Obito. You have to keep him a secret though, he’s a superhero like mom, okay?” Sasuke’s face goes solemn and he nods silently, like he’s been entrusted  with some great secret which he has, technically. 

“Now, can we go to the beach?” Sasuke asks, voice pitching into a whine. “I wanna see my friends! You can meet them!”

Itachi chuckles and nods, glancing at Shisui for a moment who smiles. “Come on, Sasuke!” Shisui says brightly, picking up the boy quickly which makes him giggle. 

  
  
  


The beach isn’t crowded but there’s still more people than there are should be on an overcast day. Obito wraps a Star Wars themed towel around Sasuke like a blanket and carries him bridal style over to the playground. Somehow, his face stays serious the entire time. Sasuke can barely contain his laughter.

Obito sets Sasuke down and wraps the towel around his neck like a scarf, “Have fun.” He says which makes Sasuke smile all the more.  Sasuke grabs Obito’s hand and drags him over to the playground, though Obito doesn’t put up much of a fight.

Obito is better with Sasuke than Itachi would have thought, the only experience with kids Itachi  _ knows _ he has is with a kid a couple years older than Sasuke who follows him around hopelessly.

Shisui chuckles and pulls Itachi along himself, telling him that it’s what Sasuke would have wanted.

Obito’s sitting on a bench, watching Sasuke lay down in the sand with two other kids - Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino, Itachi thinks - watching bugs. There’s a girl bossing around two other kids around, Kushina and Minato’s kids with another girl who Itachi recognizes as Senju Tsunade’s daughter, Sakura. Tsunade’s other children are sitting nearby, Tenzo and Shizune, who are taking turns calming a fussy toddler. 

There’s a boy Itachi doesn’t recognize with the Hyuga kids, his black hair might mean he’s one of them but his dark eyes lead Itachi to believe otherwise. He sees Itachi’s looking at him and immediately starts walking over to Itachi’s chagrin.

“You’re Sasuke’s brother,” he says in a flat voice with a fake smile.

“Yes, I am,” Itachi confirms but the boy is already looking away, at Shisui and Obito.

“You’re supposed to be dead,” he says, eyes locking onto Obito. “I’m Sai and you’re Uchiha Obito,” he says when Obito doesn’t respond which makes Shizune look over.

She gives the toddler to Tenzo and rushes over, putting her hand on Sai’s shoulder. She looks like she’s about to apologize when she frowns, “Obito…? Is it really you?” 

She picks Sai up, her eyebrows furrowing. “How are you here?” There’s an almost heartbroken look on her face as she looks at Obito, ignoring how Sai digs his face in her shoulder. She and Obito were friends once upon a time, they weren’t as close as Obito and Rin, but still, close.

Obito looks up at her through his eyelashes, a dark smile on his face. “Hello, Shizune,” He says and there’s a rasp to his voice that makes him sound like Madara. Itachi closes his eyes because Obito is always awful when he’s like this.

 


End file.
